Acanthostega fossil map
Where fossils of Acanthostega have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 15 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 15 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early tetrapods & amphibians |
|---|---|
| Lived | 443.1 million years ago to the present (Rhuddanian to Holocene) |
| Periods | Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleogene, Neogene, Quaternary |
| Named by | (Levinsen 1902) |
| Fossil records | 227 occurrences at 99 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | United States, Australia, Spain, New Zealand, Sweden, Canada, Czechia, Italy, Colombia, Indonesia … |
| Rock formations | txn:118664, Marianna Limestone, Siamaná, Korojon, Crystal River Limestone, Niebla Calcarenite |
About Acanthostega
Acanthostega, from Ancient Greek ἄκανθα (ákantha), meaning "spine", and στέγη (stégē), meaning "roof", is an extinct genus of stem-tetrapod, among the first vertebrate animals to have recognizable limbs. It appeared in the late Devonian period (Famennian age) about 365 million years ago, and was anatomically intermediate between lobe-finned fishes and those that were able to come onto land.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Acanthostega (revision 1364443168), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 22 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in.
